In 2023, AstraZeneca invested approximately 15 million PLN in preventive and diagnostic measures in Poland. This amount was significantly higher than the sum declared during the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2023.
The funds were used in the fields of oncological diagnostics, early detection of chronic kidney disease (CKD), and the development of diagnostics in rare diseases.
This support is an implementation of AstraZeneca’s long-term commitment to building resilient health care systems in Poland and around the world. The main objective of these types of systems is a strong emphasis on prevention, effective diagnostics, and also implementing innovative digital solutions
In the current year, AstraZeneca Poland will continue to carry out activities aimed at promoting prevention and early diagnosis of chronic and rare diseases.
In recent years, there has been a shift in the perception of the healthcare function in developed countries. The rapid scientific development, digitisation, and the use of innovative solutions based on artificial intelligence (AI) suggest that increasingly modern therapies will permanently solve many health problems faced by contemporary societies in the foreseeable future. Additionally, they will allow the implementation of effective methods of early diagnosis.
For this reason, health care systems funding from national budgets is increasingly seen as an investment rather than just a burdening expense. Thanks to appropriate secondary prevention, it is possible to detect, at an early stage, serious chronic diseases that pose a significant social challenge, such as cancer, diabetes, chronic respiratory and circulatory disorders, and nephrological diseases. Diagnosing a disease at an early stage allows for the introduction of an appropriate therapeutic management plan, thus giving patients the chance for a complete cure or a significant improvement in their quality of life.
Currently, about 4% of all health expenditures in Poland are allocated to preventive medicine, which is less than the average in EU countries. However, when we view these expenditures as an investment that will save millions of zlotys on repair measures within hospital care in the long term, while allowing society to enjoy a longer life in health, we realise that such a reform is necessary in view of current demographic changes.
With ageing societies, the increasing burden of chronic diseases and the growing impact of the climate crisis on health, the excessively strained health care systems are struggling to meet the health needs of patients. Meanwhile, innovations can revolutionize the design, development and provision of health care, as they are a response to both the challenges associated with patients’ health protection and the management of health care systems.
In 2023, AstraZeneca allocated 15 million zlotys to support health prevention and diagnostics in Poland. The implemented projects required the use of modern digital solutions, the introduction of complex systems based on artificial intelligence, clinical education, the development of molecular diagnostics, and the use of local expert knowledge and the global potential of AstraZeneca.
In 2024, AstraZeneca plans to continue implementing health protection programs, especially focusing on expanding access to chronic disease prevention. AstraZeneca conducts research and development activities in Poland in the field of second, third and fourth phase clinical trials for oncology drugs, respiratory diseases, metabolic and infectious diseases. From 2020 to 2022, the company allocated a total of over 1.145 billion zlotys for this purpose, and by the end of 2024, the investment will exceed the 1.5 billion zlotys announced in Davos in 2020.
